Tilla's Road to Nowhere
by SnowyWolf94
Summary: A seemingly unimportant girl's life is turned upside down when her friends get thrust into an epic battle between various groups. Companion fiction to Creager's Noir Chronicles.
1. Reunion

_How's the daylight?_

_..._

_Message Sent!_

I closed my phone, distancing it from myself by tossing it on the bed in front of me. Eden, my roomie, raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. It was an old habbit that I've done for years, and she was more or less used to it.

_Message Recieved!_

_Brittany-_

_Boring as hell._

Laughing at the response, I tossed my phone once again, this time onto the nightstand, and set about cleaning my flute. I didn't respond, figuring she's eventually get caught by my old and her current teacher.

In a way, I felt bad. The entire group had been Marked, except for Brittany. We—Circe, Cleo, Eden, Kimi, and myself, that is—had all relocated to the nearest House of Night, in Baltimore. Sighing softly, I closed the lid to my case and flopped backward on my bed and decided to sleep. It _was_ the middle of the day, anyway.

Classes were dreadfully slow.

I blamed it on being Thursday. Cue random stares.

I was wound up slightly when I woke up. The feeling one gets when something's going to happen, but you don't know what.

Ignoring it was relatively easy at breakfast, but classes were dreadful. When we were finally allowed to go to lunch, I ran as fast as I could, dodging the cliques and milling mass of students.

Being with my friends was rather calming, and the knot in my stomach loosened a bit. Well, it was loosened enough to get through my next class. The knot tightened and loosened all throughout Physiology and I was happy to be going to our last "class." I skipped most of the way to Fencing, trying to look as bubbly as normal.

A flash of familiar reddish hair stopped me in my tracks.

"Brittany!" I shout, exuding excitement. The group was together! I ran over, the knot dissipating completely, and almost ran into the taller girl.

"Kaine," is her reply. I'm too excited to notice her response right away.

"When'd you get here? And that's an epic name!" I say, registering the name a beat after I ask. We start walking toward Fencing, slowly. Mainly because, as excited I am that Britta- _Kaine_ is here, I still don't particularly want to be late.

"Yesterday: Marked during English. Where are you off to?" she responds.

"Fencing," I say, grinning slightly.

"That's what I have! We'll have to compare the rest of our schedules later!"

"Okay let's go!" I laugh, and take off running toward the class, figuring she'll be able to keep up with me.

Andus introduced Kaine and then told us to start. A newer friend I had made, Alice, challenged me to a friendly duel that she won, taking advantage of my distraction.

The distraction? Kaine was fencing.

And _she was winning. _Every match, she would win, dodging the opponent blows gracefully. However, as skilled as she seemed, I had to try to stop her when she started strutting towards Devante, a warrior in training. I told her she didn't stand a chance, but she didn't listen and challenged the boy anyway. I groaned and literally facepalmed. Alice turned at the sound and then looked to where Kaine was walking toward Devante.

**Okay. So, I'm rewriting this as a parallel. It's shorter, less ramble (kinda), and actually follows a story line! I already have the first few chapter written, so I won't fall too far behind on updating. Maybe once every two or three days? Or more. I don't know.**

**The only character that is mine (so far) is Tilla Ceol. The story line is basically from Creager's Kaine's Story. It's just a different view point. I own Tilla and that is all.**


	2. A Warrior's Sword

The agreement: Kaine wins, Devante gives her his warrior position. Devante wins, Kaine basically becomes his bitch until he either... Rejects the Change, or completes it.

"I can't watch this." I moan, covering my eyes. I did not want to see my over-confident friend get her ass handed to her because she was being cocky.

However, I had to look when there was a _thump_ on the ground.

On the ground was lying _Devante_, a sword held by Kaine held lightly to his neck.

What. The. Hell?

Devante started up with "she cheated" accusations, but Andus had a point when he asked how, exactly, did she make him drop his foil and fall.

"But I did."

And, again. What. The. _Hell?_

As we listened to Kaine explain how she could anticipate and _wished_ he'd fall, all I could do was stare dumbfounded.

"I didn't know I could do it, to be fair."

Sighing, I shook my head as Andus attempted to test her claims of controling Devante.

I didn't fully believe her, actually, until the sixth former burst into dance. _Chicken _dance.

Andus dismissed the class and, after waving goodbye to Alice, ran over and glomped Kaine.

"Awesome Kaine! That makes three now that have Goddess given abilities in our group!" I shrieked, meaning to sound calmer than I did.

"Who else?" she asked.

"Circe has an affinity to water and Cleo fire," I explain.

"I think I have some kind of thing with earth too, in botany the plants almost talked to me."

"So you can kick butt and do Ritual!" Excited, I bounced happily.

After being told she'd only want to participate in a Circle, I suggested going to Eden's and my room for some gaming. Grinning when being asked Final Fantasy or Trauma Center, I filled her in on the Vampyre-means-rich. I told her that Cleo and Circe would be at priestess training, and that Kimi was probably lost.

"You have any signs of abilities?"

Grinning widely, I answered. "My flute playing seems more and more BA by the day, but I haven't said anything to any teachers yet." I was thrilled that I was getting better, but didn't want to get my hopes up. "You're also just in time for the full moon ritual, there's one tomorrow! So, if you have an earth affinity, you'll find out then."

"Awesome! So how are Eden and you adjusting?" Subject change, go!

Losing some of the bounce in my step, I answered her inquiry. "We're doing okay. Eden is a little stressed out about the Marking but I'm trying to keep her in good spirits. Maybe Ritual will help her, but if not we can just skip and play video games!"

Being told that my plan would be frowned upon made me smile. I responded that Anmarie would be okay with it. "Because I'm amazing." She ruffled my hair, messing it up and not helping me when I told her to fix it. I chased her into the dorm building and to her room.

"Your room is really bare." Pointing out the obvious—one of my best traits.

"Kimi and I just moved in so what did you expect?" Obviously, I expected more stuff to be out, but I let it go.

"Yeah, what's that?" I gestured to the silver box on her bed.

"No idea."

"Then open it."

"Thanks genius." I almost said 'you're welcome' before I picked up on the sarcasm.

**Chapter two. This one is a little bit longer.**

**I was bored, so I figured I would upload now. So, here it is.**

**If it's a pain don't, but if it isn't, you should review. It boosts my self esteem so that when my friends make fun of me next, I won't feel so pitiful.**

**Also, read Creager's story about Kaine. This story will make so much more sense if you do, I promise.**


	3. Of Mentors, Games, and Secrets

The sword in the box was really pretty. The engravings were beautiful, with a pure emerald gem on the hilt of it. I wasn't paying attention to her reading the note, but the door closing got my attention, and we both turned our attention to the evil blob in the room.

The one girl really looked like she belonged in a strip club as a worker. Black and rainbow streaked hair, a shirt that covered less than my bra, a short skirt that barely covered anything. Pale as snow compared to both of us. The most noticeable thing, though, would've been the decorative X on her neck and the blood-red eyes.

However, the other girl that was with her was the complete opposite. She looked barely seventeen, younger than the over-twenty looking stripped girl. This girl only had bi-toned hair, red streaked black hair pulled up messily with what appeared to be a silly band. Converse and dark-washed jeans looked good with her blue and black lace corset. Amber eyes shone and her necklace glinted in the moonlight.

The oddest thing was the creeper's neck and the younger's necklace matched.

I didn't look away from the haunting necklace until the older moved toward Kaine and bit into her neck.

"Kai-" I screamed, before the kinder female cut me off, placing her hand over my mouth. I had to fight my urge to bite or lick her hand while she told me it'd go easier if I didn't say anything.

However, when the strange girl asked to be my mentor, I couldn't help saying yes. Something about her made it seem like I'd need her help in the future. Finally, she introduced herself as Sophie and handed me a slip of paper with, what I assume is her cell phone number.

At about that time, the creeper summoned my mentor back to her side and both left. My attention went back to Kaine. Asking her if she's okay and taking note of the... _Odd_ look in her eyes, I tried to figure out what had just happened.

However, Kimi barged into the room with a load of _cats_ following her. Cats are adorable, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't much of a cat person. They weren't fond of me. But, they were cute, so when Kaine shouted "what the hell" at her roommate, I grinned and shouted about "kitties!"

Kimi stated that they had just started to follow her and picked up one she said had been fondest of her, dubbing it Bootsee. Kaine's mood starting to slowly pick up speed heading downhill, so I gladly picked up with my original reason for coming back to the dorms:

"Well, who's up for video games?"

Kimi happily said she wanted to play games, but Kaine started a conversation about mentors. I didn't pay much mind to it until Kimi said I didn't have a mentor yet.

"I finally got one, Kimi! She was wearing a _Player pin_ Kaine! Did you see?" Turning my attention back to Kimi, I continued. "Kaine's was a little scar-" And I was cut off by another hand meeting my mouth.

At that moment, Eden walked in. Apparently, we were being loud, because her first words were complaints about the noise as she worked on "homework."

"You were not!" Kaine said, and I nodded in agreement, mouth still covered.

"Do I even want to know what you're doing to Tilla?" I almost sang in happiness that she was going to save m-

"Do you ever want to know what I do to any of our friends?"

Way to break my joy, Kaine.

"Will you people stop that? Why can't we tell them? They're in this, too!" I rushed, furious.

"They'll find out on their own."

More talk about mentors later and then we were _finally _going to play games!

**Chapter three!**

**Why? I'm bored.**

**This was originally two chapters, but separate, they looked pitifully short. So, I combined them, like I did with my original first and 'second' chapters.**

**Ta-da~!**


	4. Fussing

When we eventually got hungry (and by "we" I mean "they"), we headed to the cafeteria.

Kaine explained that the reason she and Kimi were absent from lunch was because they ate with Anmarie.

"We never get to eat with the High Priestess! And Eden is her _fledgling!_"

Eden scolded me slightly, saying that I didn't really care and was just feeling left out.

"I'm NOT fussing! I'm just saying!"

"Nah, you're jealous Tilla," Kimi joined in. I almost brought in crocodile tears. I thought they loved me!

"I am _not _jealous, just a little puzzled."

"When aren't you puzzled?" my roommate asked. I scoffed.

"I'm not as stupid as you are."

"Hey!" was her indignant response.

Kaine complained about the wine not being whiskey, and we were joined by our tall Priestess-in-training friends. They immediately started to tell us about how Devante was apparently beaten by a new girl. I was a little offended when they both said I wouldn't pay attention enough to have been able to tell anyone.

"Actually, I _did_ pay attention to that bout," I said smugly, glad to prove them wrong and sticking my tongue out at Devante across the table and next to Cleo.

When Circe asked my reason for paying attention, I pulled a hand-held out of my sweatshirt pocket and started playing. "A friend of mine was fighting, of course."

"Thanks for the support," Devante said, and I snorted.

"I wasn't talking about _you,_ Pervy Sensei!" I trilled.

"But he's the only one of our friends in your Thursday fencing class!" The flaming twin wonders shouted at me. Scoffing at the fact they seem to think I don't have other friends, Kaine picked up for me, telling them to pay attention to something other than themselves and each other.

This got their attention, as they had somehow _missed_ Kaine sitting there the entire time.

"Brittany!" They shouted, fighting to hug her first. "The whole gang is back together!" shouting the same words I had thought earlier that day.

Kimi and Eden took the pause immediately after their shout to inform them of Brittany's name change to Kaine.

Devante was obviously feeling sour, as he muttered about losing the bet. This peaked Cleo's interest, and Kaine happily filled them in on Devante's side of the bargain. The temperature started rising in the immediate vicinity when Cleo shouted about Devante being her warrior.

Kimi ducked out to get more food while I debated on pulling out a camera to video tape the fight about to happen when Devante said he and Cleo were not dating.

"We're not boyfriend and girlfriend," he stated when Cleo started to shout. Whispering to Kaine, I asked "is it even up to him? Cleo would obviously be on top." I got a mixture of a snicker, a high five, a glare, and two thumbs up.

Devante eventually gave in to Cleo's abusiveness, and the temperature dropped back to its normal setting. We geeked out for the rest of dinner and then headed back to our assigned dorms.

From being wound up most of the day, I passed out almost immediately, thinking fondly of the group.

**Chapter four is here. =)**

**Hope you guys enjoy.**

**(I don't have anything to ramble about right now. XD)**


	5. Hypocrite

The next morning radiated unexcitement. Eden had to drag me out of bed since I kept trying to crawl back under the covers every few seconds while I was getting read for the day.

We all exited our rooms at around the same time, exchanged hellos and good mornings, and headed to the dining area. Again, not much happened, and I didn't really eat anything for breakfast. As I watched everyone else eat, I cringed, disgusted by the idea of food so early.

Kaine apparently had Archeology with Circe and I, so we walked together. As we walked, Kaine must have noticed something.

"This place actually had the audacity to split you and Cleo up?"

At this, I smiled, happily chirping in with a "that's exactly what I said when I got here!" comment. Circe was, needless to say, not happy.

"Circe, you do know that generally, vampyres can't be Christian, right?" was the next comment-like question from Kaine. She must've noticed our blonde friend's cross necklace that she continued to wear.

"Says the vampyre that hates cats," I said, grinning. I don't think Kaine has the right to say anything about stereotypes if she doesn't like cats.

Not that I'm a terribly huge fan either, but that's not the point here.

"Okay, jeez," she relented.

"Hey, since you're a warrior now, you should specifically be mine," Circe stated. What's with the lot of us and random, completely unrelated subject changes?

"Well, we are already married," Kaine responded. I grinned. Back in Pennsylvania, we were all a "family." Kaine-then-Brittany being the dad, Circe the mom, Eden and I the children.

"Daddy, I want a pony," I said, tugging Kaine's shirt sleeve lightly, making the other two burst into laughter as we arrived at the class.

Sadly, in class today, all we learned was something that digging for Al Bhed primers in Final Fantasy X-2. Be careful, blah, blah.

Luckily, the next period made my day brighter. Art class for the win. Today we were working with multimedia, and I grinned as I slipped into my seat across from Cleo. The class passed by with the two of us being somewhat picked on for goofing off.

Voice, however, was an odd class. Cleo and I walked together and met up with Kimi about half way there. Circe and Eden were already there by the time we got there. The entire period was me lip synching and trying not to flip out on the people behind us who continued to talk while we were supposed to be _singing!_

Cleo left us after the period, but the five of us left walked together to out math class. I never liked math very much. Ever. I used to sleep in class all the time. Until a tracker barged in and ruined my perfectly good nap to Mark me. The _nerve, _right?

We were doing Geometry, though. And it _is _my favorite kind of math. So, I actually paid attention, helping my friends if they asked me.

When the class finally ended, we all went to the cafeteria one again. I went towards the snack bar as everyone went to get main meals. As I was sitting at the table after getting said snacks, I watched as Kaine ran right into Andus with her tray, spilling food all over him. Sighing at the fact I _do_ know the idiot new girl who walked into the High Priestess's warrior, I watched her line jump to get more food.

**A shorter chapter this time, it seems.**

**These really do seem longer when I type them...**


	6. Circle Surprises

When Kaine told us the good news of her being accepted as a warrior-to-be, we all cheered and celebrated happily until we had to go our separate ways. Anatomy for me, by myself.

Of course, we had to work in partners.

Naming parts of the body. We had to name bones and muscles.

Did I mention that they were _assigned _partners?

So, I worked with this guy named Eos Siempre. A warrior in training that I knew from other classes I shared with him. Other than his name and his warrior status, I knew nothing about him. And trust me, he knew my name and nothing more.

"Well, this is awkward," I stated calmly after a short stare-down between the two of us. I pointed to my upper arm and waited for a response from the much taller male in front of me.

"Humerus," he said gesturing to my pointing, not responding to the awkward comment. The class progressed slowly, each of us taking turns. I tripped him up a few times, and try as he might, I managed to get almost all of the names correct, minus pronunciation (which has never been my strong point). All those times mom had me help her study for schooling of her own finally paid off.

The class ended and I scampered to Fencing, trying to get away from the intimidating male figure. My partner, not Andus, who taught the class.

I nearly tackled Circe when I got there, rambling to her about the horrors of Anatomy, with her and Kimi listening as we took turns sparring with one another. The hour passed quickly, thank goodness, and we hurried to the temple. We had a Circle to get to, after all.

**(slight time skip)**

The temple lights dimmed as Kaine walked over to us, and as she got to our group the ceremony started.

I quickly explained to Kaine and Kimi about the teachers holding the candles as they walked in, but it was a hard feat. We were all excited, as was everyone.

Anmarie walked in and met with Andus, and everyone hushed quickly, listening intently to what our High Priestess had to tell us.

A match lit, the first candle ignited. As the air playfully accepted the invitation that was extended to it with the lighting of the eastern-most candle. However, when the wind poked and prodded at me, surrounding me completely, I was stunned. My body walked on its own accord towards the center of the circle and lifted my hands toward the candle.

Yellow mist joined the whirlwind I felt around me, forming a box in my hands and then entering my body _through _ my hands. I stared at them, shocked and somewhat terrified now that the wind died down around me.

"Go sit back down Tilla," Professor Ann said, calmly. I nodded quickly and scampered back to my friends, immediately being assaulted with hugs and squeals from Eden and Circe.

The circle continued on _normally_ after that little incident, until a green mist floated out of the candle of the same color. The earthly mist surrounded Kaine, making a cocoon, wrapping around her and faded. As the color faded, so did Anmarie's smile; she was glaring daggers at us, and I shrank back some.

A purple mist flowed from Spirit's candle and surrounded Kimi in a similar fashion. With its fade, the circle continued with Anmarie talking about the year. It was extremely hard to not notice the fact our High Priestess wouldn't even look at us while she talked, instead looking to everyone but our little group.

**There's a time skip for the sole purpose of making this one chapter instead of two pitifully short chapters. . I write really short chapters, don't I...**


	7. That's a Big Nono

I slammed my hand on the table, shooting to stand up dramatically.

"I don't want to be a priestess!" I shouted. I never was one for the work it'd take to be a priestess. Mentally, I knew I wouldn't mind it at all, probably even enjoy it. However, emotionally, I did _not_ want to have some _guy_ protecting me.

It was _not_ happening.

Kimi and Kaine seemed to agree, as they both nodded to my comment. I sat back down since I knew I had chosen the conversation topic.

"You guys don't want a big strong warrior to protect you?" Circe asked, seeming to be confused.

"I _am_ the big strong warrior, I get to protect you, Circe," was Kaine's retort.

"Well, you better do a good job!" One could hear the smile in her voice as she "threatened" Kaine.

Then to my slight horror, Kaine got up, bent down in front of Circe on one knee, hand over her heart, and told the young priestess "Circe, I offer my pledge to protect and serve you from this day until the day I die; to die in your place if that is what Nyx has decided for me."

Though said humorously and as a joke, because the next words from Circe were words of acceptance (in an accent), the mists returned, mixing and twisting, forming a heart with braided ribbons leading to the girls' hearts. Their marks glowed, and though it was a very... Almost romantic scene, Anmarie had walked in and saw it.

And she looked pissed. "Circe! Kaine! Tilla too! Get your asses to my office!"

_Shit! _I wasn't even involved!

... Did I mention Anmarie looked _pissed?_ Because she totally did.

As calmly as I could, I walked with the two girls in training to the High Priestess's office.

Circe and I were allowed the chairs in Anmarie's office, Kaine standing guard over us. I calmed my nerves slightly when I saw her glaring more at Kaine than any of us.

"Well, you three seem to know why you're here," she started, drumming her fingers on her desk. I stared, completely confused. As I opened my mouth to say that _no_ I _didn't _know why I was here, Circe did it for me.

"Well then I'll scold you and Kaine, then we'll get to why Tilla is here." I nearly lunged to strangle her. Instead, I sighed unnoticably, leaning back in my chair without slouching. She ranted at the two for their Oath, since it was obviously against the rules and, as they are only third formers, as much as it sucked, one or both could die at any moment.

I zoned out for their conversation. None of it pertained to me, so why should _I _have to pay attention to their scolding? I silently wished I would've grabbed a hand held system, but figured it was probably for the best my DS died and Eden took my Gameboy.

"Anyway, let's move on to Tilla and Kaine breaking rules." Whoa, wait, what?

"I know that Kaine didn't know about the rule about not taking mentors from outside of the school, but Tilla, you've been here long enough." I laughed awkwardly and scratched my cheek, something I often do when I'm caught doing something.

Kaine however got off worse than I did; she started to imprint with her mentor. So, Anmarie let us go without any of us being in serious trouble, and we headed to our rooms.

"Wait, who is Kaine imprinting with?" Circe asked.

"Crazy vampire Goddess." Short, sweet, to the point. I figured it was easier than telling Circe everything and then having to explain it. Circe, however question Kaine's necklace next, something I hadn't even noticed. It looked oddly familiar.

"Wait, is that the mark we've both drawn in joking?" was how Circe addressed it. It clicked, suddenly. The mark is something that human Circe and Kaine used to draw all the time, saying it was the mark of a vampire Goddess.

"They're real, and we all knew it. It was destined from the start," Kaine said, sounded half depressed about the whole thing.

"Kaine's her favorite, too!" I said, trying to make something bad sound better.

The two training girls made plans and we said goodnight. As I slipped into the room, I first noticed that Eden was yet to be seen. Then I noticed my DS was covered by a curled up, breathing ball of fuzz and ears. I walked over, and the animal looked up. It yawned widely, then hopped up. I jumped back, and the creature and I had a stare down and I slinked over to the lights to turn them on. When I did turn the lights on, the creature _barked._ In the lighting, I could tell what it was. Cute, for one thing. The size and big, bat-like ears helped me identify it as a fennec fox. I sat on the edge of my bed, and it came right over to me, plopping it's body down on my lap, and rolling over so I could pet her (now that I could tell its gender) belly. She whined a little when I got up to turn the lights off, but When I came back, she bounced on me happily.

"Well, aren't you just adorable," I said, smiling softly. I always wanted to buy a fennec fox, but with it being an exotic animal, it wasn't exactly a plan I thought I'd reach. She yipped at me and I laughed. "Now, how in the world did you get in my room?" I asked it, not expecting an answer. She barked at my quietly again, and we laid there comfortably, falling asleep next to each other

**A longer chapter! And it wasn't two that I combined into one!**

**I'm sorry you can fit two of my chapters on the window without scrolling. I just cut wherever I feel like usually because it looks like it's going to be longer than it ends up being. .**

**But this chapter is definitely longer. I can tell because it takes up almost two pages on OpenOffice. =D**


	8. Excitement and Depression

The next day happened to be one of my favorite days of the week. Saturday was right up there with Wednesday and Thursday. Saturdays are my 'let's-see-how-fast-I-can-annoy-everyone-near-me' days.

I was quite good at it.

The day started off normal. I woke up after my roommate had already left the room to most likely go watch Doctor Who in the common room. I knew from last night's conversation that Circe and Kaine were gone for a good deal of the day, and Kimi and Cleo were hard to find.

Deciding that my roomie was going to be my first target, I quickly surveyed the room, seeing if I could use anything to my advantage, I noticed a familiar fuzzball on my bed next to me. The fennec fox from earlier lifted her head and blinked at me, yawning.

"So, you're still here, are you?" I asked her, again not really expecting an answer from an animal. To my surprise, she seemed to nod! Ooooookay...

"Do you have a name?" Again she surprised me, shaking her head in a negative response. I looked at her, my eyes taking in every aspect of the critter in front of me. I crouched next to my bed and grinned, placing my chin on the edge of the bed so we were face to face.

"May I name you?" At her sneeze that I took for a 'yes,' I grinned wider.

"Then, my friend, from this day on, you shall be named Dagda!" She barked and did her little nodding thing again, causing me to laugh.

"So, Dagda. Did you hear a girl come in last night? She's my roommate," I told her, continuing at her nod. "I need you to help me mess with her, 'kay?" I asked her. She barked and stood up, excited.

"I'm... Going to try to lift you with air, okay Dagda? I've never even thought of trying this before, so it may not end well. I'll keep you over the bed, though." She sneezed again, and I crossed my legs, focusing on making Dagda lighter. After a few moments of hard concentrating, I had managed to get her feet off the bed, ever so slightly. The feat caused me to lose concentration, and Dagda plopped soundlessly on the bed.

I grinned, excited. I put my hand out to Dagda and was slightly surprised she did what I wanted her to do. As she ran up my arm and around my shoulders, I took off running for the door, not caring to even change out of what I had worn to bed.

Bursting into the common room, I quickly located my roommate and sprinted over.

"Eden! Eden, Eden, Eden! You'll never believe what Dagda and I just did!" I shouted happily, jumping in front of her line of sight of the TV. She pouted slightly at the loss of David Tennant, but at the moment, I didn't even care.

"What did you do?" she asked, not really interested at all.

"See this little girl? Her name's Dagda! She was on my DS when I got back last night! And I picked her up! Using the air!" I squealed happily, grabbing Dagda to prevent her falling as I spun in a circle.

"And you had to interrupt Doctor Who for that?" Eden muttered quietly. I pouted.

"Well then. I'll go find someone else who'll care," and at that, I walked out of the common room.

Instead of finding someone else, we went back to the dorm, and I tried to lift Dagda again for most of the day, not being able to because of random distractions. Slightly disheartened, I gave Dagda a few snacks before leaving her in the room, figuring she could get out on her own if needed.

I ran into a distraught looking Cleo and Circe in the hallway, heading toward the temple. This had me curious as, not only did two of my friends look extremely upset, they were heading to the temple at dinner time.

"Yo! What's up, you two?" I asked, worried. I was almost afraid of their answer.

"Devante... Devante rejected the change a short while ago. Not even an hour ago," was Circe's sad response. At the sound of the boy's name, Cleo's eyes teared up. Immediately feeling awful, I gave both girls a tight hug and told them to take as long as they needed and to not worry, that I'd tell the group where they were.

"Thanks, Til. We'll... We'll try to catch up later," Circe said, leading Cleo away towards the temple.

**So, plans got a bit changed. Tilla didn't annoy anyone. Just wait, though. It might happed. XD**

**Anyway, here's chapter eight! Is anyone thrilled? (I'm not.)**

**Dagda is Tilla's familiar, if anyone is uncertain. Remember how it said that cats and Tilla don't get along well? Yeah, so a cat familiar doesn't seem like it'd fit. So, a fennec fox is what I chose.**

**Don't kill me for it?**


	9. Mirror Child

When I walked into the dinning area, I noted Kimi sitting at the table already, a cat curled up on her lap. I walked over and sat down, drawing her attention.

"Tilla? What's wrong?" she asked, concern written on her face. I must've looked pretty out of it for her to be honestly concerned. I filled her in and she opened her mouth to say something, but closed it at a lack of words.

We sat in silence, not doing anything but sitting in the silence at our table. I tried to play a game, but I had to set it aside as my mind wandered and I got a game over. A minute later, Kaine, Eden, and, to my surprise, Eos walked up to the table. I could see the recognition of the fact Circe and Cleo were very absent from the table.

"Devante rejected the change about an hour ago," I said, fighting to keep my voice steady as I did so. I had to catch myself on a stutter.

"Is it common for fledglings to die here?" Kimi asked, watching the interactions between Kaine and Eos.

Eden was the one to answer. "It is common for fledglings to die, but according to all the teachers, this is the first person that has died in seven months. Most schools lose a student a month."

"... That's sad," was all Kaine sad.

Eos simply said "well, no one likes Devante anyway."

I bit my tongue, preventing myself from smacking him and correcting his term use. Instead, all I said was, "Cleo seemed to like him."

We were shortly after hurried to bed by the teachers, and Eden and I walked back to our shared room. Without a word, we both changed and laid in our respective beds. Dagda hopped up on my bed next to me and I pet her absently.

The sound of footsteps and crying alerted Eden and I to Circe and Cleo's return, but neither of us dared to go confront them. I sat up and looked at the door sympathetically, knowing that I wouldn't be able to help either of my dear friends.

Eventually, I heard my roommate's breathing even out, and I finally laid back down and drifted into sleep feeling suddenly like I was very small.

However, shortly after I had fallen into a slumber, a shriek woke me. Figuring that it wasn't _terribly_ important since the shriek didn't last long at all, I decided to at least throw on a pair of jeans. The shriek was caused by Circe, I knew for sure.

However, in the time it took for me to locate and change into a pair of jeans, something else must have happened. As I was going to open the door, a long scream was let out by none other than Kaine. This scared me slightly. It was a rather long shout, and it apparently woke most of the girls in the dorm, as slowly girls poured into the hallways.

Once Eden was sitting up in her bed, now awake from the scream, I grabbed her wrist and dragged her out and into Kaine's room. The scene we witnessed was definitely... Wrong. Kaine was clinging to Cleo in the bathroom, almost desperately, crying into the young priestess's shoulder.

We looked to Circe and Kimi for answers, as they were there before we were, but they both looked as lost as we were.

The oddest thing about the scene?

Kaine's mark... was backwards.

**I'm really just posting these as I write them... Since it's summer, I get bored easier, too. So, I've been writing more often. So, here. Have another chapter. This makes nine chapters in under a week.**

**I don't even write this often for school...**


	10. Up Close and Personal

We were kicked out of the room shortly after, with Anmarie threatening us. Moodily, I sulked back to my shared dorm, Eden following behind. I was not happy about being woken up and then not given answers to my new questions. If it would've just been waking me up, I wouldn't even care that much!

In a way, I was glad to have woken up. It was still technically the weekend, so I could go enjoy the sunlight for once! Since I was already dressed, once I knew Eden was back asleep, I left and wandered the grounds for a while. I didn't do much, but Dagda found me near a tree, where we stayed for a while.

Ever since I was a little kid, I had always wanted to learn how to climb a tree. So, since I was one of the very few up and outside on school grounds, I practiced, only falling and getting a few bruises, instead of breaking something as I thought I would.

Eventually, I went inside, Dagda departing from my side to go wander around more. Glancing at the clock on the wall in the common area, I bounded up the stairs and burst into Circe's room, slightly surprised to find my roommate in the same room. Grinning, I grabbed Circe's arm, tugging.

"Tilla? What's up? Why are you grinning like you're up to something?" Circe immediate asked, slightly suspicious.

"We're going to go get answers from Kaine, silly goose!" I chirped happily. Getting a matching grin from the water priestess, I tugged her through the joint bathroom, entering Kimi and Kaine's room without knocking. I was vaguely aware of Eden following us to make sure we didn't do anything stupid.

The blonde and I stood with our faces close to Kaine's as we waited for her to wake up. We didn't have a long wait, thankfully.

"She's up!" Circe and I shouted excitedly as we tackled the now-awake female warrior.

She sighed and immediately asked Cleo's whereabouts, and Circe announced to us that Cleo wanted to be alone.

After a few minutes spent talking how Kaine's death meant Eden would need a tutor and Kaine saying Xia wouldn't let her die, Circe decided to burst in.

"I still refuse to believe it! Until I see real proof, I refuse to!" was Circe's only real comment, and the only response was Kaine rolling her eyes. Kimi took the time to tell Kaine she was a wanted child.

Of course, she was only wanted to go see Anmarie, but that's not as fun.

Kimi also told her fail bucket roommate that she was to cover her odd marking and draw a new one in as a replacement until further notice. Kaine tried, really she did, but after five tries, you generally give up trying to cover something up. Poor thing. I was summoned from my room to work my magic on Kaine's hair.

See, I've been sporting a side part since forever. I'm quite good at getting unruly hair to cooperate with me. So, I set to work on Kaine's hair, skillfully covering the Mark as well as one of the green eyes my friend had.

However, even though Kaine now looked pretty awesome and normal, my roommate hates when hair covers someone's eyes. She won't complain about it, but she'll make random comments against it.

"Who needs depth perception anyway," the said roommate asked sarcastically when she saw the warrior girl. Comments like that are exactly what I mean.

"Apparently not your roommate. Well guys, I'll be back, maybe," was Kaine's retort.

"We'll be at feline enrichment!" Circe said, reminding me that I had completely forgotten about said activity. Oops.

"I'll be here, doing homework," Eden sighed. I tried not to grin, thinking about how she commented earlier about a Doctor Who marathon this weekend. If I knew her as well as I thought I did, my guess was that she'd probably not get very much homework done.

Sighing softly myself, I let Circe drag me to Feline Enrichment. How I ever got into the activity, I have absolutely no idea...

**So, chapter. Here you go!**

**I'm exhausted. Stupid band camp. That I adore. .**

**I got almost halfway through typing this before my brain registered that I was typing a story.**

**Sigh... I need sleep.**


	11. Fury

Feline Enrichment- the class for fledglings to learn how to take care of their feline familiars.

However, I don't have a feline familiar. Nothing against the class, but if you don't have a feline familiar, what you learn is pretty much useless info. The closest thing I even had to a familiar was Dagda, who is a member of the canine family.

Which brings us to where I am now. Sitting in Feline Enrichment with Circe and Kimi and watching them learn how to take care of their felines. Fun little bubbles bounced across the room, as if this were some kind of anime.

They didn't really, but it adds to the image.

I felt very out of place the entire time, and when Dagda showed up and hopped up on my lap, I got a few weird stares. I ignored them easily, as people used to stare at me like I was a freak in my old school, too. Whatever.

Thankfully, once Dagda showed up, the time passed quickly, as I attempted to use the feline techniques on her while she yipped pitifully at me. She jumped onto my shoulder as the class ended, and my two friends joined us with their own familiars following them.

"Uh, Tilla, I have a question," Kimi stated. I turned my head to look at her and tilted my head, signifying that I was listening. "... What is that?" she asked. I assumed she was referring to Dagda, so I filled both her and Circe in on my meeting with Dagda quickly.

"She's so cute!" They both exclaimed happily. It was kinda funny how they just now mentioned the adorable level of my little puff ball, but hey, I guess they were more curious.

I giggled quietly to myself as we entered the common area of the girls dorms. Subconsciously, I scanned for my roommate. There was a small mental click as I registered that, not only was my first reaction to look for her, she wasn't there.

I sent a quick grin to Circe and Kimi. "I gotta bounce. People to see, games to play. Come join me, if you wish," and I bounded up the steps to my room and burst in.

There was something slightly odd with my bed. First, it was made. Second, there was a yellow candle on it. Third, there was an intricately painted candle holder next to it. I looked up, and saw my roommate lounging on her bed. "I was told to tell you to keep the candle and holder forever."

I shrugged and set up the Wii we had in our room. We each grabbed a remote and settled in to play MarioKart for a while. Eventually, we both decided to sleep, after the sun had already risen.

After what seemed like a short while, I was shaken awake by a pissed off looking Eden. I blinked, trying to see clearly. "What's up, Eden?"

"Kaine's missing, we think. She went to go practice with Eos last night and hasn't come back." Before she even finished the second sentence, I was up and out of bed, throwing on a pair of jeans. I didn't bother with anything else, not even socks. I stormed out of the room, Eden following, where we met up with a furious Circe, Kimi, and Cleo.

Circe and I practically ran down the hall and into the common area. There was no sign of Eos or Kaine, so I took off out the building and into the next building, the dining room.

And who was sitting there? The exact boy we were all pissed off with. And you know who wasn't there? The girl we were all worked up over. How convenient, right?

"Where is she!" Circe demanded of the boy.

"What the hell did you do to her?" I barked sharply, the skin on my arms prickling.

"Why didn't she come back last night?" Kimi asked, seeming to be the calmest out of all of us.

Eden and Cleo glared into him, not bothering to shout.

Eos stared at each of us, his eyes watering slightly, and as he went to say something, Siegfried burst into the room and ran over to us.

Siegfried was an odd child. I didn't know him too well. He was kind of tall, with almost short hair, and almost cute enough to date. But, when he ran over, panicking, about a dream he had last night, we all stared stupidly.

"I had the worst dream last night! It was horrible! It started with me walking in on you and Kaine in the shower, and then it somehow gets worse. Kaine's something was hemorrhaging and Anmarie made me put my hands near her organs! There was so much blood!"

… Yeah, see? Odd child.

Somehow, while Siegfried was rambling about his odd dream, Anmarie popped up. She chose now to speak. "It wasn't a dream, dear child."

The words caused Siegfried to pale and then faint altogether.

**So, sorry it's been a while. I had band camp for a week, and then I needed to not do anything for a while.**

**I'm updating now with a longer chapter in hopes that you'll all forgive me.**

**Especially since I still have homework to finish by the 11th. And I'm not even really all that close.**

**I'll update during my breaks, so bare with me, please.**


	12. Hemorrhaging, Bloody Organs

"Should we move him?" Cleo and Eden asked, gesturing to the poor unconscious boy on the groun in front of us.

"No, leave him. Circe and Kimi, you may go see her. She's in my room. Bring some loose fitting clothes for her." Anmarie said calmly. I felt better now that I knew where Kaine was, but I was still angry. I couldn't see her?

"Now?" Kimi asked.

"After you eat, of course. I have already talked to your teachers." I pouted slightly.

"Why just those two?" I whined.

"Well, obviously, Circe is bonded to Kaine, and Kimi is her roommate. Just like I would be able to come see you if you were injured," Eden explained.

As touched as I was that she'd consider visiting me if I was injured, I had to ask. "Why do I have to be the one that's injured?"

Cleo felt the need to answer. "Because you're always getting injured." I pouted more.

"Children," Anmarie cut in. "All of you can see her later depending on how she's doing. Either at lunch or before dinner," and with that, she departed, heading for the kitchen.

The girls and I hurried to get food and got back quickly. Immediately, I asked Eos, "Did you guys really take a shower together?"

He flushed and looked away from us, finding interest in something across the room.

"Which organ was hemorrhaging?"was Eden's question.

"Anmarie never said; I was too worried to recall what I learned in anatomy," he answered, at least answering someone else's question.

Eden and I grinned at each other and simultaneously shouted, "Dibs on the drain!"

Everyone else blinked at us and then went back to the happy little Q&A session we were having.

"What did you do to her?" Cleo asked. Eos looked appalled.

"Why do you assume I did something?"

"Just answer the question."

"We were sparring and I hit her too hard," he answered, looking quite guilty.

Kimi and Circe finished their food and immediately shot up out of their seats. "Bye!" was shouted, and off they were, with Eos asking them to tell her he was sorry as they left.

Neither girl made any indication of hearing him as they walked away.

The rest of us went to class moodily, not happy that we were being kept away from our friend. I was rather preoccupied during classes that day, and after classes I went to visit her, telling her I'd visit each day until she was back in class.

We joked that it'd be more of a punishment for her to be sent back to class, but we were both excited that she was healing up quickly and would soon be back with the group.

**I'm bored, okay? I have no life. So, I'm updating twice today. Maybe even a third time later. I don't know.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy.**

**... It's really short, so count another another update later...**


	13. Soul Sharing

One afternoon when I went to see Kaine, Eos finally grew a pair and asked Kaine out. She answered with a "maybe" and he kissed her, saying that he'd wait forever if he had to, and then left.

I couldn't help laughing.

Kaine asked permission from Anmarie for us to leave. She was finally well enough to be up and around, which was a nice change. We headed to the dorms after Anmarie gave the okay and gave Kaine directions.

When we got to my currently-empty room, Kaine handed me a note. "Can you read this?"

I looked it over. "Kaine, what is this?"

"Can you read is?" she asked again as she laid back on my bed.

It seemed like a stupid question, because it looked like English to me. "Well yeah, it says 'I thought you should know why I've chosen you and your friends.' And it's obviously from that creeper, Xia," I added.

Kaine sighed and pointed to a line on the page. I read it out loud. "'You and Tilla share a soul.' Yeah a- Wait, what? Does this mean you and me?"

She nodded. "I always wondered why we were so similar," I said. It was true, though. We always were alike.

"Keep reading." I sighed. This time, I read to myself, and at the last sentence of the letter, I nearly died.

"Does this really-?" I started, but she cut me off.

"Can we talk about it later? Let's just play video games."

"Yeah, because that won't be so weird," I agreed. "Is it even possible for two people to have the same soul?" I asked as I set up a game.

"A vampyre did research on it, very good research. Xia thought it was odd that all of these phenomenon all happened near the same time and place."

"Huh. So, who else are you going to tell when?" I asked, slightly curious.

"Do they really have to know?" she asked back, seeming slightly upset.

"Yeah! I mean, I'm sure Circe and Cleo would _love_ another excuse to act like each other! And Kimi would love one to follow you around like a puppy," I explained.

"Kitten," she corrected. "And what are you going to do about you and Eden?" she pointed out.

"Shut up," I muttered. "I've been thinking about that for a while. Why is she only connected to me?"

"Well, according to the vampyre that wrote the report, you would have the piece that would fit with her's, and I have the half the sounds off Kimi's."

I suddenly wished I read this report. "You had to word it like that?"

"Of course. There are tests to check how your soul is connected to others, though it's mostly hit or miss," Kaine said, putting her hand up in the air, leaving it there. I blinked at it, and then finally grasped her hand, grabbing at her palm but not interlocking our fingers.

"We do share a soul," she stated simply, smiling.

"So, that's the check for sharing?"

She nodded. "Hold out your hand, I'll show you the other ones. Soul mate," she said, interlocking our fingers. "This one means resonating," and her hand moved to press flat against mine, as if we were seeing who had a bigger hand. "Soul twins," she said, giving me a high five. I laughed quietly. "And lastly, bonds," she explained, moving her middle and pointer fingers to wrap around my own.

"That's weird! I don't understand it!" I said, slightly confused. None of his made much sense to.

"I don't really understand it, either, but I managed to memorize them," she responded as the door opened. Kimi walked in and Kaine held her hand up. Kimi pressed her hand flatly against it.

"It _does_ work! I'll be damned..."

**And there goes the last moments of normal.**

**The story gets really interesting from here on. XD**


	14. Do Not Use This Gun

My comment went unnoticed by Kimi, who immediately attacked Kaine. "Hey sissy! I see Anmarie let you out of confinement?" she asked, hugging the newly released girl. Even from where I was, I could tell the hug was tight enough to hurt the still-healing warrior.

"Ow, too tight Kimi!" Just like I thought, Kaine was being injured further because of the hug.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Kimi kiss it and make it better!" You could almost see the smiley face that'd appear if it were a text conversation.

"No thanks, we don't have that kind of relationship!" I laughed quietly to myself and continued setting up the Wii.

"I know!" was the perky reply. Again, I laughed, this time loudly and shook my head a little at how funny Kimi could act sometimes. I finished choosing a game and the three of us played until there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" I yelled, mentally angered because I had lost the race because of my batteries going dead on me.

"Tilla-chan!" I heard from a happy, vaguely familiar voice. I was suddenly glomped from behind, and the red and black hair that flew into my sight gave away who it was.

"Sophie!" I yelled, equally happy. "What are you doing here?" I turned as best as I could to hug the other girl.

"Ese-san and I just wanted to stop by and drop off some gifts!" she sang and handed me a yellow-paper-wrapped box tied neatly with a matching yellow ribbon that she pulled from nowhere. "Since you and Kaine share a soul, you're sort of a warrior, too!"

I took the present and quickly opened the present. The gift was a gorgeous silver pistol with my name engraved beautifully on the side. There was a honey colored Citrine gem on the bottom, a gemstone used for healing and protection. I marveled at the precisely cut gemstone before looking up at Sophie in awe. "It's gorgeous!" I squealed.

Bouncing across the room, I showed it to Kaine, who held it carefully in her hands and checked it out. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" I asked her.

"None at all," was her simple reply.

"Oh, and Xia-sama forgot to include the scabbard with your sword so it's now in your room," Sophie turned her attention to my sword-baring friend. Then, making sure we were both listening, she told us, "Don't you two go letting people use your weapons. Only either of you could ever use them."

"So they're made for our soul?" Kaine asked as I set about putting my holster on.

Sophie smiled wider. "Yeppers!"

Another girl who I hadn't noticed before took this time to hand a can of pepper spray to Kimi while exchanging words.

Sophie sighed before informing us that her and Ese, the other girl, had to get back to Xia to prevent her from "blowing up the earth or enslave the human race. Again." She waved to us as she practically dragged Ese out of the room.

Kaine and I exchanged a glance and then looked to the letter only we could apparently translate and thought of our earlier conversation. I bit my cheek lightly and went back to our video game until Eden entered the room. I declined checking to see if we were soul mates, or even telling her about it for now, when Kaine sent me a look.

Just before sunrise, Kaine and Kimi departed for their own rooms. Eden and I made light conversation until we decided that going to bed was easier than staying up.

Minus the translated note and the conversation following it, everything seemed pretty normal.

**For now, of course.**

**It Gets Worse.**

**Obviously. It usually does, right?**


	15. Rude Awakening

Everything went as it normally does the next few days. My roommate and I would argue over whether I should do my homework or play video games. Dagda followed me around more and kept popping up at random, and I finally decided that yes, she _is _a familiar and yes, she _is_ a fox.

Kaine and Eos were still together. As gross as that sounds.

Eos and I actually spoke during our class together now. It also turned out that we didn't just have the one class together. We spent most of our Thursday together in class. We didn't get along too great, but I could tolerate him and he put up with my crazy babbling.

When Eos joined our group, his buddy Siegfried joined as well. It turned out that I had multiple classes with him, too. This was a nice change, actually. I enjoyed his presence, when he wasn't panicking.

By the time Friday came around, however, it was obvious that something odd was going to happen. I wasn't disappointed, either. I heard from Circe that Eos had been attacked and he and Kaine were at the hospital.

I was dragged out of bed, forced into clothes, and dragged, again, into Kaine's shared room with Kimi. Sighing, I stared at Kimi, who was frantically pacing the room. A raised eyebrow to signal that I wanted to know the point of my presence, Kimi tried to tell me that neither were able to pick up the sword.

Walking over with a deadpan stare on my face, I easily picked up the sword and turned to look at them. As soon as I had it in my hands, Circe started to drag me, yet again, from the room.

Why do people just drag me places? Maybe I had _plans_ for the day.

I know I didn't, but that's not the point.

Going outside was nice. It was sunny out, which made me happy. Going to a night-based school, I didn't see much of the sun, so the change was a welcomed one.

The car I was being dragged to, however, was not.

"Circe? Why am I being dragged to a dark car? It looks like you're trying to kidnap me, dearie," I deadpanned.

"Tilla! I'm _supposed_ to have a date today, remember? And Kaine's at the hospital. Without her sword."

I glanced down at said sword. "Uh, yeah. Your point?"

"She's not supposed to leave without it! Unless she has it while we're out, I'm not allowed to _go_ out. So, you're going to run in to the hospital, give her the sword, and I'm going to go on my date," she grinned, thrilled with her plan.

I shook my head, not bothering to poke holes into her plan. Getting into the car and choosing shotgun, I waved hi to Anthony. Anmarie looked about as thrilled as I felt, stuck with the job of driving us.

The ride to the hospital was rather quiet on my part, as Anmarie and I were stuck listening to Anthony and Circe in the back of the car talking amongst themselves. I twiddled with my phone while they did, and sent a few texts back and forth with my parents.

_Oh, goodness. I'm going to have to tell Eden this! She's going to so entertained..._ I thought once Mom sent the text about her and Dad separating. My grandmother had predicted months before that once I left home they would, and we had laughed about the unlikelihood of them parting. Funny how that one worked.

Arriving at the hospital, I practically jumped from the car and sprinted to the hospital, gaining stares from the sword I was holding while I ran. Happily handing it to Kaine, who looked as though I had just interrupted... Something, I grinned, called them both cute, and bounded back out to the car, where Anthony and Circe were getting out of the car.

The ride back to the school was relatively quite. Anmarie was on the phone for a part of it, and all I got from it was that she was going to transferring someone to Oklahoma.

Really? Oklahoma? I wonder what's out there that we don't have at the Baltimore House.

Though, the only thing I know about Oklahoma, I learned from the musical, which I immediately hummed songs from at the mention. Anmarie was thrilled, if the eye roll was anything to go by. Giving her a thumbs up and a wide grin, I continued my humming until we got back to school.

I bounded my way to the dorms, since no one was really awake anyway. I burst through the door and almost did a flying tackle on Eden's bed to wake her up. I would have too, if she weren't already awake.

When I thought she'd be amused by my parents, I wasn't wrong. I was kinda bummed out by it, but as long as they're still civil to each other, it'll be easier. It's not like I'm going to be home with them often, anyway.

Plus, two birthdays and two Christmases. Can't complain about that, now can I?

I happily babbled to her while she laid in bed and went back to sleep. Idly playing video games for a bit, I fell asleep with my DS in my lap.

**Sooooooooo, hi everyone.**

**I know. It's been forever.**

**But I'm back!**

**Kinda.**

**I don't even have an excuse. Other than band, school, art, injuries...**

**I'm sorry. Forgive me? Please?**


	16. Dissonance

The next day being Sunday, there wasn't much to do, as students tried to do their homework. The only interesting thing was that, after dinner, Kaine pulled Eden with her to go talk or something.

I must've been acting weird all day, because while they were gone, Circe came and sat with me while I played Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World. She didn't make a sound until I had made decent progress in my new file.

"So, what's up?" she asked.

How does one even answer that question? I tilted my head slightly, and she got the hint.

"You seemed more subdued today. Like you were thinking really hard because of a puzzle or something," was her explanation.

I sighed quietly and closed my eyes, pausing my game. In all truth, I had been thinking about my old home and it had me kinda worked up. I took the time to relay this to her, and she gave me a hug, trying to cheer my up. About the time she let go and grinned at me, the door to my room opened and Eden walked in.

I waved and unpaused my game, continuing my fight with Alice. Circe left quietly as I beat the child-like girl in the game and saved.

"So, what all did Kaine wanna talk about? She doesn't usually want to just 'talk,'" I asked, curious, as I turned in my seat to watch her lay across her bed.

"Oh. We're being relocated. Anmarie is sending her to Oklahoma and-" I cut her off.

"KAINE'S the one being sent to Oklahoma? I hear Anmarie talking about this in the car on the way back yesterday!" I exclaimed.

"Yes, yes she is. I'm going as well," she stated, calmly looking into my eyes.

I sucked in air in a gasp, feeling my eyes widen. _What? _She's... Going, too?

So, I'm going to be alone? In the middle of a place I'm still not used to, while my friends are all together in dorms of their own, while I'm alone?

"Oh," I said, quietly. "Well, I guess, have fun." A short pause. "... I'm still going to text you like crazy," I grinned slightly, trying to make sure my eyes didn't give anything away. I had always been told they give me away, like a true mirror or book of emotions or a diary.

She blinked slowly, and I knew she caught on. Not that I cared a whole bunch right now. "I'll try. And please don't kill me phone; It can only handle so much, okay? But I'm going to start packing tomorrow, and Kaine and I will be leaving Saturday."

Breathing out, I grinned. "Okay. Just promise not to get yourself killed ,will ya?"

She grinned back. "No promises."

I laughed quietly, and turned off the Wii, unhooking it from the TV. Getting ready for bed was quick and for once, I quickly fell asleep.

My dreams were odd, random blues of color mixing with random bits of music playing throughout it. I woke up in a panic to find Dagda staring at me with uncertainty in her eyes. Picking her up and hugging her to my chest, she curled up as I sat leaning against the wall until the sun sets and the moon rises.

At the time, I happily got out of bed and changed quickly, throwing on the first thing I could find that was clean. Dagda was happily following after me as I bounded to the practice room and got my flute out of its case, trying to replicate the music I had heard in my dream last night.

I stayed, frantically scribbling down notes and testing different notes and rhythms, until my phone vibrated off the stand.

Catching it in the air, I flipped it open, finding a text from Cleo asking where I am and if I'm joining them for breakfast. X-ing out to check the time, I notice there's only really twenty minutes of breakfast left. About the time I close it, I hear footsteps entering the room.

"Oi, going to join us, or not eat?" I looked up, startled to find that my roommate had bothered to look for me at all.

Taking apart my flute and carefully wiping it down, I responded, "I just lost track of time. Sorry..." As I spoke, my voice got quieter, as our voices echoed in the large room. Standing up with my case neatly laying against my back, I walked over calmly.

We made our way to the cafeteria in relative silence. Since by the time we got to the cafeteria, it was time to leave anyway, I didn't end up eating, making the trip completely pointless in the first place.

At least I got most of some of the song clips written down, right?

**I didn't really know what to write.**

**But, I'm near the Oklahoma arc!**

**Which makes me happy. Because it's interesting.**

**Problem?**

**Too bad.**


	17. In Charge Gaming Marathon

The week passed slowly.

Kaine and Eden were leaving Saturday after sunset.

Both were packed by Wednesday.

Despite Kaine advising me to, I still wouldn't tell my roommate that she was my soul mate.

Friday, we all had a surprise visit from Shekinah, the High Priestess of all the vampires. She, coincidentally, was going to make a surprise visit in Tulsa, but the only flight there conveniently was the same flight Kaine and Eden were leaving on.

Everyone seemed surprised by the power in her voice. Well, everyone but Kaine and myself. I don't know why I wasn't surprised by it myself; maybe my mind was too busy drifting. Kaine and Shekinah exchanged a few words, and the High Priestess made her way to her temporary quarters. Someone made a joke, and everyone had laughed about it.

After dinner, Kaine pulled me aside. Signaling to my soul's other half that I was listening intently for a change, she started to speak.

"So, I'm going to put _you_ in charge of Circe's dates while I'm gone," she stated bluntly.

"Oh, _are_ you now? Who says I wanna be in charge of her?" I smirked. Obviously, I didn't mind being told to be Circe's guard dog. It at least made me feel useful.

It also gave a chance to test out my new shooting skills that I've been toying with during free periods of time that weren't spent playing games. But, that's beside the point.

"Well, obviously, I won't be here. So, that leaves you. I could put someone else in charge, but Circe..." She trailed off.

Right. The blonde half of the flaming twin wonders would complain relentlessly.

Sigh, I said that, fine, I'd do it.

"But, of course, you have to keep a certain roommate safe in exchange, 'kay?" I said happily, knowing I'd feel a thousand times better if my warrior friend was keeping an eye out.

"Sure," was her simple response. We both grinned and grasped each others hands as soul sharers would.

Pouting slightly nonetheless, I hugged the slightly younger warrior. "I'm going to miss you guys. I just got you both back, and now..."

"I know. I'm sorry," she said, hugging me back. I pulled away and grinned again.

"You should be. I don't know if I'll ever forgive you for this!" I laughed then, and she joined in as we walked off to our respected dorms.

Entering my dorm as Kaine departed for her own, a cat was almost immediately placed as the focus of my attention.

"I'm not forcing Bagheera to go along with me."

"... What?" Hello to you, too. Background knowledge is nice to have sometimes, you know? None was given, though.

"I leave tomorrow, and I'm not forcing this stubborn thing into coming with me," was all the explanation I got from Eden. Nodding my understanding, I bent down to pick up Dagda and pet her calmly.

"So, one last video game marathon? We're so close to beating New Blood again, you know?" I smiled softly, hoping the other girl would agree to the gaming session.

She did, and I quickly set up the Wii. We played through the rest of the game, making jokes at the characters' expenses.

Apparently, we were farther from the end than I remember, because we didn't end up even changing clothing until almost two.

Laying down but not sleeping, I stared blankly at the ceiling, unable to go to sleep. I idly texted my one friend from school and talked to her about what sports she was into nowadays. She didn't text back much, and I quickly gave up on the conversation, and sleep overtook me finally.

**So, yeah.**

**Just kidding.**

**NOW I'm up to Oklahoma.**

**The arc should be rather short. Only a few chapters. Maybe, like, three?**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

**(By the way, I realized when my one friend said she didn't know what "dissonance" meant, that not everyone takes music classes like they're a religion. It's basically "sounds of unrest.")**


	18. Weekend Woes and Monday's Mystery

They left at sundown, just like they had planned.

I spent my free time in the practice hall again, flute in hands, pencil behind my ears, scrap paper on the stand before me.

Over the last week, I had learned that the music from my dreams was quite haunting. In my original dream, it had played a softer version of the piece, flowing with stops and starts that didn't make sense. After working with it, I found that my dream had played it out of order. When in its actual order, the song was mysterious and terrifying. No changes made to it made it sound any happier.

Sighing heavily, I packed up and headed out to supper with my friends. Little conversation was made, surprisingly, and we ended up splitting up before it the time was over. I went back to... what was now solely my dorm room.

I stretched out on my bed and reached for my DS, before thinking twice and standing back up. Plugging my laptop into the wall so that it would stay charged, I ended up stretching across Eden's bed. Bagheera looked at me and then curled back up at Eden's pillow while I surfed the web.

It wasn't until when everyone started to lay down for sleep when I started to panic. I knew that there was no way either Circe or Cleo were asleep yet, so I quietly crept out of my room and entered their's.

"Tilla? I know there's no way that you'd be asleep yet, but what are you doing over here?" Cleo asked.

"I don't know, actually. I was just laying there, and all of the sudden I started to panic!" I exclaimed to them, leaving out _where _I had been laying. Circe patted the bed next to her, and I padded over and sat down.

She stroked my hair as we sat there, and the three of us made idle chitchat. It slowly came out that I had panicked because of the fact I was sleeping alone tonight, but there wasn't anything any of us could do about it.

I smiled slightly and bid them both goodnight, before making my way back to my dorm. Changing quickly, I grabbed Dagda off of my pillow, walked across the room, and laid down in my ex-roommate's bed. Bagheera gave me an odd look, but didn't hiss, which surprised me, but it was a welcome surprise.

Something most people don't know about me is that I'm a scent person. If I catch even the slightest scent of someone, I can remember 19 out of twenty times. So, falling asleep in someone else's bed was... almost comforting to me.

Sleep came fairly quick, and my dreams were nonexistent. I awoke no more rested than I had been before when the moon came out.

My Sunday carried out much the same as it had the day before, except instead of spending it in the practice hall, I spent it at the shooting range, perfecting my long distance aim.

Nearing bedtime, the routine changed slightly again, as I stayed in my dorm and didn't venture out into the dorms of my friends.

My dream came back, and the music played again. This time, pictures flashed in my mind, solid pictures instead of the abstract blurs from before. I woke up frightened, but by the time I could form a thought, the images were gone.

Mondays never started off weirder.

I didn't make it in time for breakfast, so I grabbed a personal sized bag of Doritos to eat on the way to class. I barely made it to Philosophy and sat down next to Kimi. We doodled and giggled to each other the entire time, and then went to our next class to do the same. Lather, rinse, repeat, you know?

It wasn't until music that I found out that school was just... Not the same.

The only people I had ever really talked to in Monday's music class were Kaine and Eden.

Solemnly getting my beloved flute out of its case, I sat in our usual corner of the room, practicing pieces that the three of us had been practicing together and just, in general, getting lost in the music.

Somewhere in the middle of practicing, I must've absently switched what I was playing, because the song coming from my flute was sad sounding, addolorato and quiet. When I snapped out of my trance-like state and looked up, I found that not just a few people had turned to watch.

Flushing, I rubbed the back of my head awkwardly and set about putting away my instrument of choice. Looking up, I saw that there was an occasional glance my way, and a lot of whispers. Thankfully the bell rang, and I quickly made my way out of the room.

**So. The Oklahoma arc I've been raving about?**

**It's started.**

**Bet you didn't see that one coming!**

**Look! More music terms that I'm throwing at you!**

**Addolorato** **means "sorrowfully," by the way.**

**Anyway, Tilla's in charge now. Not that it seems that way yet, huh?**

**If anyone has any ideas for incidents that can happen, feel free to comment about it.**

**I'm bound to run out of ideas eventually.**


	19. Teacher Games and Hauntings

I scurried out of the practice hall where music was located and headed to my computer sciences class, alone. This was yet another class my old roommate was supposed to have with me, but at least this time, no weird music should be involved.

Upon arriving, I found the professor sitting at his desk, face buried in what appeared to be a handheld. Quietly sneaking up to his desk, I heard the joyful tunes of MarioKart playing from the speakers of the DS. From the sound of it, he was on the final lap of a race in Rainbow Road. A few short seconds later, victory music played.

I clapped. "Sounds like you did a good job, Professor. Where'd you place overall?" He jumped, startled out of the trance most games put people in.

"First, of course." His answer made me grin. "How do you know what I was playing?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Because I'm an avid gamer myself, of course!" I exclaimed. "I never lose," was stated in a calmer voice as I made my way to my seat in the back. Getting out a piece of paper and a pencil, I started to doodle as the Professor made his way to the front of the room to start today's "lesson."

Our lessons were prerecorded and we went through them at our own pace. I was already done with the chapter we were supposed to be working on, so I busied myself in a doodle for most of the class.

Since it was the class before lunch, I was in no hurry to leave when the bell rang. Instead, a brilliant idea popped into my head.

"Professor Eric?" His eyes glanced my way for a brief second. "You want to play video games sometime? I recently lost my gaming buddy," I asked, gesturing to the empty seat the used to belong to Eden.

"Technically, teachers aren't supposed to hang out with students, you know." A pause. "So, why the hell not?"

I grinned. "Awesome. Catch ya eventually."

And off I went, heading toward lunch.

Eos looked pretty pathetic without a girl to cling on, though I didn't feel too bad for him. Siegfried looked as though he was attempting to comfort his roommate, though it didn't look as if it were working.

As sad as this is going to sound, that was the highlight of our lunch our. Nothing happened for the rest of the school day, either.

It wasn't until after school that anything odd had happened. I was calmly playing games by myself, since Kimi wasn't interested in the game I was playing, when suddenly, the music came back.

It started calmato and quickly became more appassionato. Almost immediately after, it went into a decrescendo, quieting considerably. The same dissonance as before came back, but with a dolce-like melody. With everything put together the way it had been, it was an overall doloroso played piece. **(Before anyone tries to kill me. Calmato = calm. Appassionato = with passion, passionately. Decrescendo means to get quieter over a set amount of time. Dissonance still means "sounds of unrest." Dolce means "Sweetly," while doloroso means "Sadly, mournfully." We all on the same page? Awesome.)**

The music stopped and my head throbbed. It was a foreboding, a sinking feeling deep inside, that made me run to Circe immediately.

"Circe!" I gasped when I found the girl laying across the bed in an otherwise empty room. "Circe, I don't know what just happened," I rushed. "I was playing games, and this music! I don't know where it's from, but something bad's going to happen, and I don't know what!"

The water-gifted girl put her book down and rushed to where I had collapsed on the ground near her door. "Tilla? Tilla, that makes no sense. It was just music, silly! Nothing bad is going to happen because your head played some music to you. You probably just remembered some music from a horror game you've played before; don't lie, I know you've played a few!" She sounded very calm as she said all of this while patting my head.

"But, Circe... You don't understand! It shouldn't... How can we know nothing happened?" I asked, my voice sounding broken, even to me.

"You just have to trust me, dear. I can't help you other than that. Do you want to talk about anything, though?" I sighed. Of course I wanted to talk to her; I had come here first, hadn't I?

But, I knew she didn't believe in the music that my mind had made.

Nodding slightly anyway, I curled up next to her bed while she stretched out across the floor. We chatted for a little before I calmed down enough to go back to my room. After settling back into my chair and continuing my game, I found that the boss I had been about to fight was the final boss, anyway.

Quickly slaying the dragon, the ending cutscene rolled like credits at the end of a movie. About the time the cheery music started playing, my phone vibrated. Assuming it was a text, I ignored it, until it kept going off and buzzing. Grabbing it from my sweatshirt pocket and checking the caller ID, I saw that it was Kaine who had been calling me.

I answered, slightly nervous as to what the warrior needed that she'd actually call. "Hello? What's up Kaine? Something wrong?"

"Nope, everything is great. Why do you say that?" I could hear a slight quiver in her voice that told me she was upset over something. I decided not to go into detail about my hunch.

"Just have a feeling, ya know?"

"No, I don't. Am I interrupting something?" I glanced at the TV. She must've heard the music.

"Nah. I beat it, just watching the ending scene. So, what can I do for you?

"I need to know if I left that book there." Uh, what?

"Let me finish this cutscene. I'll check they. Why didn't you call Kimi? She's in your room," I pointed out. It was puzzling she didn't called her old roommate and chose me instead.

"She can't read it, can she?"

That doesn't mean the girl can't _see_ it.

I sighed and walked across the hall to check. Looking over her old desk and not finding anything, I report to the girl in training. "Nope, it's not here."

"Where'd you look?" she asked.

Was she doubting my ability to find a book? People have no faith in me, do they?

"Your desk," I respond, biting my tongue to prevent me from calling the warrior stupid for asking.

"Okay, thanks Tilla," and a click to signal she hung up.

I sighed. If she hadn't have hung up, I would've asked about Eden, but apparently the warrior child was too busy.

Whatever, I guess. I had video games to play.

**This one's longer than usual. So, I'm sorry.**

**But, on the plus side, I updated again!**

**Anyone have any guessed as to what the music means yet?**


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